Forest Ecology and Management 260 (2010) 1095–1103 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Forest Ecology and Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foreco Current distribution of older and deciduous forests as legacies from historical use patterns in a Swedish boreal landscape (1725–2007) Sofia Eriksson a,b,∗ , Helle Skånes b , Monica Hammer a , Mikael Lönn a a School of Life Sciences, Södertörn University, S-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden b Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden article info Article history: Received 20 January 2010 Received in revised form 10 May 2010 Accepted 20 June 2010 Keywords: Ownership Management regime Heterogeneity Sustainable forestry Trajectory Remnant habitats Conservation abstract We combine historical maps and satellite derived data to reconstruct the development of a Swedish boreal landscape over the past 300 years. The aim is to understand legacies from past use patterns in present-day forest composition and consequences for conservation objectives from a landscape perspec- tive. We analyze landscape development in cross-tabulation matrixes, building change trajectories. These trajectories are tested in linear models to explain the distribution of present-day landscape composition of coniferous, mixed, and deciduous forests >110 years. Of 49 tested change trajectories, 11 showed a significant association. Associations for mixed and coniferous forests were similar and linked to charac- teristics such as forest continuity, which characterized the studied landscape. Deciduous older forests did not show any association to forest continuity but were more likely to occur on areas that specifically shifted from forests with grazing in the 1720s to open impediment (likely indicating low tree coverage) in the 1850s. There were large shifts and spatial redistribution in ownerships over time. Use patterns and legacies varied between small- and large-scale ownership categories as well as within small-scale categories. The legacies found in the study indicate a complex origin of heterogeneous landscape ele- ments such as older deciduous forests. Additionally, the origin of the legacies indicates a potential need to diversify conservation management based on the influence of past use patterns. Despite large incon- sistencies in historical and contemporary data we argue that this type of analysis could be used to further understand the distribution of landscape elements important for conservation objectives. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Anthropogenic land cover transformations are one of the major drivers of change in forests, tightly linking the functioning of for- est ecosystems to human use and legacies from past management (Foster et al., 2003; Foley et al., 2005; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). In both Fennoscandia and North America, forest management has altered local forests beyond their natu- ral/historical range of variability (Landres et al., 1999; Kuuluvainen et al., 2002; Cyr et al., 2009), potentially indicating an increased vul- nerability to biodiversity loss. Sustainable use of forest resources requires understanding not only of forest dynamics but also of its relation to land-use legacies (Mladenoff et al., 1993; Foster et al., 1998; Motzkin et al., 1999; Hall et al., 2002; Rhemtulla et al., 2007). Sustainable forest management schemes include longer time per- spectives, for example, linking management objectives to base-line ∗ Corresponding author at: School of Life Sciences, Södertörn University, S-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden. Tel.: +46 8 6084563; fax: +46 8 6084510. E-mail addresses: sofia.eriksson@sh.se (S. Eriksson), helle.skanes@natgeo.su.se (H. Skånes), monica.hammer@sh.se (M. Hammer), mikael.lonn@sh.se (M. Lönn). conditions in unmanaged forests and attempts to mimic natural disturbance dynamics (Hunter, 1993; Attiwill, 1994; Fries et al., 1997; Angelstam, 1998; Bergeron et al., 1999; Kuuluvainen, 2002; Drever et al., 2006). In Sweden, commercial forestry occupies ca. 95% of the total for- est area, and management practices have shaped the ecosystem to optimize the resource supply to timber and pulp industries. How- ever, the Swedish Forest Code of 1993 places equal emphasis on the goals of production and conservation, stating that forests should be managed for timber production but in ways that maintain biodiver- sity. The contemporary Swedish strategy emphasizes the role of the forest owner, removes high-conservation-value forests from tim- ber production and promotes adaptation of management practices that incorporate conservation objectives (Miljödepartementet, 2005). The national conservation objectives also include increas- ing the amounts of deciduous forests and older forests. However, it is difficult to identify local distributions of deciduous components from a forest production management perspective (Angelstam et al., 2003; Eriksson and Hammer, 2006). As opposed to bas- ing conservation objectives on the dynamics of the individual forest landscape, Swedish forestry approximates a generalized composition and structure based on unmanaged forests (Angelstam 0378-1127/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2010.06.018